Extraterrestrial
by FriendLey
Summary: Pepperony AU where Tony works in the Science Division of SHIELD and Pepper is a civilian he has to save. The catch is Pepper doesn't really need saving and Tony's the sciencey cinnamon roll that can't hurt the alien trying to kill them because he needs the extraterrestrial alive for academic purposes. Complete


**Disclaimer: I do not own the Marvel Cinematic Universe or any of its characters found in this story. What is written here is for entertainment purposes only. No infringement is intended and this story is not for profit.**

 **A/N: This takes place during the Battle of New York.**

"Team Alpha—"

"Again?" complained Dr. Tony Stark, head of robotics in SHIELD's Science Division. "Can we have different team names? Because technically we're not soldiers and calling us Team Alpha sounds like we're soldiers going to war which we're not."

Agent Jasper Sitwell wore a deadpan expression at the statement while Dr. Leopold Fitz raised his index finger, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, I don't appreciate that at all."

Sitwell rolled his eyes. He hated working with SHIELD's Science Division. These damn scientists always had one complaint or another.

"Fine," he relented. "What do you have in mind?"

"Ooh, how about the Enterprise?"

All the agents in the room turned to stare at Dr. Jemma Simmons.

"What?" she innocently asked, looking at them like the answer was right in their faces. "Our mission is to go out there and seek the other life forms littered on the street, isn't it? Not intervene in the battle, simply get in, gather all the extraterrestrial evidence, and get out."

"It fits," said Tony, turning to Sitwell.

Fitz nodded. "Yep."

"Fine," grumbled Sitwell. Whatever to speed this mission along.

"If we're the Enterprise, I call dibs on Spock!" Fitz grinned proudly.

"I'm Kirk!" Tony added hastily. "Because I'm the funniest and best looking out of the three of us." He pointed at Jemma. "That makes you Uhura."

Jemma frowned at the two men, folding her arms. "Oh, because I'm a woman, is that it?"

Fitz and Tony exchanged small panicked looks. Fitz fidgeted with his hands, sputtering a lame "no" while Tony said, "it's because Fitz is Spock and Spock ended up with Uhura in Abrams' film and you guys are a thing so..."

Jemma narrowed her eyes at Tony. "I think I'm Bones. I _am_ a biochemist."

"Hey, nerds!" Sitwell cried out, clapping his hands together and getting their attention. "Your alteregos are not relevant to the mission, alright?"

Chastised, the three agents bowed their heads.

"Now, a team of field agents is going to clear the area block by block. After every cleared area, you go in and start collecting the alien lifeforms and their weapons, you got it?"

"Yes, sir."

"And I know all of you are curious, but no poking and prodding on site. Priority is containment. You can blow your minds experimenting on the aliens once we get them back to the lab. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

...

"I can't wait to open them up and see what we're dealing with," said Fitz lifting a severed head with a gloved hand and storing it gently in a box.

"So many possibilities," agreed Jemma, still staring in awe at her own alien. "The cure to cancer, maybe, cellular regrowth—"

"Hey, where's Tony?"

Jemma stopped talking, glanced beside her, and only just noticed that the spot was empty.

The duo put away their aliens and proceeded to look for their teammate. They found Tony a block away walking up to a building.

Fitz ran after his friend, reaching him just as Tony was about to walk through the entrance doors.

"Tony, that building isn't cleared yet!" Fitz shouted at him.

"Exactly, Fitz!" said Tony, grinning mischievously. "We might get an up and close look at the aliens. _Live ones_." His eyes lit up as he said it.

"That's not what our orders are," argued Fitz.

"Aw, come on. Aren't you even a little bit curious? We'll only observe."

Jemma finally made it to them, catching the end of the argument.

"Observation in an uncleared building can lead to contact with a—"

"Hey, Spock, I'm commander here, remember?"

Jemma turned to Fitz. "Well, it does sound a bit harmless to observe."

Fitz's eyes widened. "It's not going to be harmless when they kill us! Jemma, you can't possibly—"

"It's for science, Fitz."

"Uh. Fine! But if I die—"

"You won't," assured Jemma.

"I'll tell them we were brainwashed by that horny alien," shrugged Tony. "What? Word is he did it to Agent Barton and a bunch of other agents."

Fitz opened his mouth and then closed it again. "That's believable. Alright. But we are not splitting up."

Tony pushed open the entrance doors with a grin and they walked inside the building, occasionally stopping to listen for noises and warily looking all around for any hostiles.

They approached an intersected hallway, one leading to the right, while another continued all the way to the end of the corridor.

"I say we go straight," stated Tony, leading his friends through the empty halls.

There was an odd sound coming from the first door they passed and all three agents froze in their tracks.

Jemma moved first, taking a step forward despite Fitz madly whispering "no" behind her. She grasped the doorknob, twisted... and pulled.

There was a woman inside and she screamed, her hands going up to her face in defense.

Tony, Fitz, and Jemma screamed as well, similarly surprised.

Seeing who it was, the woman broke into a deep sigh, her hands going over her chest. "I thought you were aliens!"

Tony crouched in front of her, seeing up close that the woman had a freckled face and red hair, strands of which had escaped what once must have been a tidy ponytail.

"Miss, it's alright. What's your name?" asked Tony.

She seemed to study all of their faces and after intense scrutiny, she said, "Pepper."

"Pepper, my name is Tony, these are my teammates Fitz and Simmons. We're SHIELD agents and we're here to help."

Pepper nodded her head shakily, taking Tony's proffered hand.

He pulled her up and once outside of the supply closet, she adjusted her clothes, pulling her pencil skirt down and straightening her blouse. She brushed away a strand of hair and sad, "It's about time help came. We called an hour ago. We were trying to escape and I got left behind. I hid in there." She gestured to the closet. "I'm not hearing any explosions anymore. Is it over?"

Jemma shook her head while Fitz said, "this area's cleared but the battle just moved further down the city."

"You're from what again? SHIELD?" asked Pepper, looking at her rescuers as they started walking around again, checking every room they passed for other survivors. "What is that?"

"An intelligence organization," said Jemma, smiling.

"So, you're like spies with all the cool gadgets and stuff?"

"Yes," said Tony smugly.

Jemma looked uncertain while Fitz said, "Sort of. We're not James Bond material but we do know our way around a weapon."

Tony opened another door and quickly came to a halt, causing Pepper to run right into him.

"What—"

Tony clamped a hand over Pepper's mouth. He cupped his ear, a sign for everyone to listen.

Pepper cocked her head in the direction of the soft growling sounds emitting from the room.

When Tony quietly made a move to enter, Pepper's eyes widened and she grabbed his hands in an attempt to stop him. But he only dragged her along with him while Jemma inched closer inside the room, Fitz nervously trailing behind her.

"Is that—"

"Yeah."

Tony motioned for his friends to get further inside causing Pepper's jaw to drop.

"What are you doing?" she hissed in Tony's ear. "We're supposed to be looking for survivors, not more aliens!"

"I've never seen a living one up close before," said Jemma, eyes fixated on the alien rummaging through electronics.

"They're nothing like the grays," whispered Fitz.\

"Grays?" asked Pepper

"X files reference," answered Tony.

"Give me your gun." The demand startled Tony. He looked at the redhead.

"Pardon?"

"A gun! We can shoot it while it's distracted."

The three SHIELD agents gave Pepper an offended look.

"I'm not gonna let you shoot a defenseless creature," hissed Tony, hands flying to his holster, covering it protectively.

"It's a scientific discovery! Shooting it would have ramifications!" added Jemma.

"Well, shooting it _would_ make it angry and come after us," said Fitz.

Pepper stared at them. "Are you serious right now? Its pals are attacking New York City."

"It can't help it. Maybe it's a part of its biology. It doesn't know any better," said Jemma.

"We'll stun it and take it back to the lab," suggested Tony.

"Right." Fitz nodded.

"Are you—"

There was a growl and all four of them looked at the alien's direction to see it had abandoned its activities to bear down at them.

"RUN!" cried Pepper.

Fitz grabbed Simmons by the hand and pulled her out of the room while Tony stood frozen awed by and at the same time scared of the extraterrestrial. Pepper pulled him along with her by his arm causing him to stumble before righting his feet again.

They ran as fast as they could to one end of the corridor and when there was some distance between them, Pepper pawed at Tony's gun holster causing the scientist to jump in surprise.

"What are you doing?"

"GUN!" shrieked Pepper, not caring about what Tony thought she was trying to do to his pants.

"I don't have a stun gun on me!"

Tony pulled out his gun and said, "Do you understand that if I use this we're really gonna hurt it?"

The alien finally appeared, brandishing a threatening looking device at them.

Pepper didn't give a damn if it felt any pain or about Tony's sentiment.

"I don't care! Shoot now!"

Tony cringed, whimpered an "I'm sorry" before he flicked the safety off, fired, and missed. The alien roared at him.

Clutching at the back of Tony's shirt, Pepper backed away while shouting, "Shoot it!"

"I'm trying!"

Tony didn't know if he was imagining it but the alien seemed to be playing with them, growling and taunting them with every slow step it took.

"Oh, my God! I thought you said you knew your way around a weapon!"

"I design and create the weapons," Tony barked. "That doesn't mean I'm a good shot!"

"You're about the most useless spy I've ever had the unfortunate pleasure to save my life."

Tony gaped at Pepper. " _That_ is offensive! I never said I was a field agent. I work in the Science Division! Oh, and a 'thank you' would be nice."

Tony turned to the alien and shot.

The alien easily evaded the bullet. This time, it changed its stance, almost as if it was ready to pounce.

A bead of sweat formed at Tony's forehead and Pepper gave a small scream.

This was it, Tony thought. He was gonna die and he couldn't even save a civilian. What use of a SHIELD agent was he?

Pepper cried, "Give me that!" She grabbed the gun and shot two, three, five times at the alien. All shots found their marks and Tony gaped wide-eyed.

He looked at Pepper who was still clutching the gun, her chest rising and falling with every deep breath she took. It was hard to imagine she was the helpless civilian they found screaming in a supply closet. "That is so hot." He glanced at the unmoving alien. "And also a little bit concerning. Should I be suspicious about your shooting skills?"

Pepper finally put her hands down, relaxing her grip on the gun. "My dad was in the force. He taught me a thing or two."

She handed Tony the gun who carefully took it from her and flicked the safety back on.

"What's your name again?" asked Tony as he put the gun back in its holster.

"Pepper."

Tony flashed his most handsome grin at her.

"Pepper, how's about when this is over, I show you my... research... about aliens?"

Pepper raised a brow at him. "Seriously? You're asking me out right after I saved your ass from an alien you wanted to keep as a pet?"

"Not a pet, a test subject but yes. If you want to."

Pepper folded her arms across her chest and retraced their steps. "And you think I want to see the aliens in your closet?"

"Research," corrected Tony, walking beside her. "Alien research. In my lab. I don't have aliens in my closet. I may be a scientist but I'm not a _mad_ scientist." He went on to say how disgusting and unsanitary it was to keep decomposing alien carcasses in his closet, next to his Armani suits.

"Okay."

"—stink in a closet—" he gave Pepper a double take. "'Okay it should be stored in a freezer' or 'okay I'll go on a date with you?'"

"Yes to the second."

Tony grinned. "Really?"

"No."

"I'm confused."

"Yes to the date. No to the alien research." Pepper gave him a look. "Do I really look like I want to have anything to do with extraterrestrials after what just happened?"

"Touché."

...

Pepper gazed entranced at the series of colors currently gracing the laboratory.

Tony hummed beside her. "Beautiful right?"

Pepper could only nod. When she agreed to go in his private laboratory after their date, she half expected to see aliens. But not this spectrum of lights and colors that stole her breath away.

She could hear Tony explaining the science behind the lights and she glanced at him, finding him quite beautiful under the colorful shadows, his eyes lighting up with delight as he shared his knowledge with her.

"... and it's the Aurora Borealis except right here in the New York and not in some freezing corner of the earth." He looked at her, smiling knowingly. "You want to know how I managed to get this? From the aliens in—"

Pepper's lips prevented him from saying any more.

"Stop talking about the aliens," she murmured against his mouth.

Tony snaked a hand around her waist, pulling her closer, kissing her deeper. His hands slid up her back, cradling the back of her head.

They broke away momentarily, Pepper's lips slightly swollen from the attention Tony had given it.

Tony brushed away an errant strand of hair from Pepper's face.

"You're totally out of this world," he softly said.

Pepper snorted a laugh. Pushing him away with the palm of her hand on his chest.

Tony chuckled sheepishly. "I know, I know. But it had to be said."

"Are you done with the alien references?"

Tony nodded. "Yes, I'm done."

"Good." She licked her lips, leaning closer. Tony could smell the wine on her breath. He felt his blood rushing south. "Because I'm gonna kiss you so hard you'll see stars."

They both broke into laughter.

 **A/N: I don't know what this is, tbh.**


End file.
